There are a couple places around here, at the flea market or mall, that do custom screen printing. One of these days I'm going to go see how much it would cost and if it's reasonable I'll have myself a Wizard shirt.

SIlk screening 1 shirt... Not usually a possibility. The cost of the screen to make the shirt would run the shirt way over $20. TO make like a dozen wouldnt' be too bad.

There are printers that would do it, but also the wizard, buzzz, roc logo are either registered trademarks or copyrighted so technically it would be illegal to print those designs without permission from their respected companies. you can still get people to do it though.

Greatzky wrote:SIlk screening 1 shirt... Not usually a possibility. The cost of the screen to make the shirt would run the shirt way over $20. TO make like a dozen wouldnt' be too bad.

There are printers that would do it, but also the wizard, buzzz, roc logo are either registered trademarks or copyrighted so technically it would be illegal to print those designs without permission from their respected companies. you can still get people to do it though.

Given your first point about singles not being cost effective, it seems like if someone were really interested in doing this, they might just wanna make a simple screen printing rig, get some acetate and rubylith, and get crafty to make their own. If one were to do that, would that address the second part about violating IP laws? (It's my limited and vague understanding that you're allowed to whittle a sculpture of Mickey Mouse for your dashboard, but you can't go into business selling your dashboard Mickey's without getting the Mouse's permission.)

even making a single shirt for yourself is still illegal if the design is copyrighted/trademarked already. This is an issue that is brought up in the silk screening and imprinted apparel world a lot, but the answer is always the same. eve if you just made one and you didn't sell it you are still "Technically" violating copyright/trademark laws. I never liked this idea because if you like a brand logo or something, but they don't carry ANY merchandise it sucks that you can't make a shirt for yourself even if they don't make them. That's unfortunately the way it is.

Now will they come after you because you made 1 shirt? If they found out they could, but it's doubtful. that's where the line is. it's still illegal, but you probably won't get caught. That's how lots of flea market shirt makers get by with what they make. The only real industry/shirts that I would NEVER recommend that anyone copy is Bob Marley Shirts. His Estate Goes after everyone that makes Bob Marley shirts for sale.

as for making your own silk screening stuff... I wouldn't recommend it, but it could be fun project for a little while.

You really don't have a lot of freedom to manipulate whatever you want with the intention of selling it. I do a little bit of stuff like this, but I don't do a lot of it. I don't endorse it either. And I don't advertise it. Part of my issue with doing only custom dye work, is the idea that if someone wants a dye, 99% of the time it's of a company or product, or person. Not an original idea. You pretty much don't have the rights to use that image, or the "likeness" of that image without the owner's permission.

You'd think that people would be cool about some of it, but you'll hear people constantly yell "be careful for copywrite stuff with that man". Hell, I donated 5 dyes to a tourney last weekend and someone wah wah'd about copywrite laws with the corona dye I did. Even if you don't charge for it it's still illegal. Because the company hasn't given permission for you to use their logo in whatever light you choose. I've made a few shirts for myself of brands of things that I like, but I don't aim to reproduce em for sale.

It kinda sucks, but it's there to protect what's rightfully theirs. Which only makes sense. I've refused several shirt offers because of this. I do it on the side for fun, but I'm super picky as to what kind of work I take in.

Thanks for the answers! Now I'm curious how Warhol got around it with the Campbell's soup can. At what point can you say, "This logo has become iconic in a way that transcends the brand or product it represents, and is a suitable subject for artistic interpretation"?

AciDBatH666 wrote:You really don't have a lot of freedom to manipulate whatever you want with the intention of selling it. I do a little bit of stuff like this, but I don't do a lot of it. I don't endorse it either. And I don't advertise it. Part of my issue with doing only custom dye work, is the idea that if someone wants a dye, 99% of the time it's of a company or product, or person. Not an original idea. You pretty much don't have the rights to use that image, or the "likeness" of that image without the owner's permission.

You'd think that people would be cool about some of it, but you'll hear people constantly yell "be careful for copywrite stuff with that man". Hell, I donated 5 dyes to a tourney last weekend and someone wah wah'd about copywrite laws with the corona dye I did. Even if you don't charge for it it's still illegal. Because the company hasn't given permission for you to use their logo in whatever light you choose. I've made a few shirts for myself of brands of things that I like, but I don't aim to reproduce em for sale.

It kinda sucks, but it's there to protect what's rightfully theirs. Which only makes sense. I've refused several shirt offers because of this. I do it on the side for fun, but I'm super picky as to what kind of work I take in.

You want to know what I think? I think since Discraft doesn't make any of their own shirts, you should send them examples of your work and some examples of Discraft stuff you'd like to make and see if you can set something up with them. If you could get their permission to start cranking out shirts, imagine how much business you'd have. Might be worth a shot.

That's just too much for me. I don't have that kind of time or resources at my disposal. I work 50 hour weeks, and don't keep massive quantities of shirts (colors AND sizes) in stock. My operation is small and I kinda enjoy keeping it that way. If I had the time and a little more creativity I'd create my own designs for my own stuff. I don't even have the time for that right now. I mainly cut stickers for my friend's wakeboarding buddies, along with their own custom shirts.

To get licensed with a company isn't the easiest either. I'm assuming you have to show them your intentions with their logo. I mean you can't just make a shirt with a buzz logo and then put "innova sucks my c0ck" underneith it. They have to approve the way that you present their logo. There's just too many ways you can getburned for doing this kinda stuff. Hell, my first eBay dye that I did was a tapout logo. I figured it was different and kind of under the radar. Well 1 day left and someone reported it. I figured something like that wouldn't be too bad. I CONSTANTLY see capt America shields, punisher, grateful dead, and pink Floyd dyes on eBay. I was pissssssed because everyone else gets away with it. So I went and reported every single dye that wasn't an original image because it's bs someone reports me yet all this stuff I see is constantly up online for sales.

It really makes me wonder how a lot of sites get away with putting things on shirts that I see.

i work in silk screening business and we do alot of shirts for fraternities and sororities. most of the designs are based off movies,logos etc. all we do is change a couple things and then we print em. they intern often do sell them and the way we look at it is its ok to do so as long as its not a direct copy of the image and somethings change. i can double check with my boss tomorrow as i was thinking of doing some stuff too and posting them up on dgr.

jim you know as well as i do i would rock the hell out of a wizard or magic shirt! i may have to delve into this more and find out if i can infact print some. or i may just do some for myself. it wont hurt since im wearing them